January priorities

Let's suppose David Unsworth stays as manager. I believe he will always give his U23s a chance if our so-called first teamers fail to shine.

He knows what we missed out on in the close season and who we need in the next window, hopefully he'll get them. But who would you get?

Unfortunately Baines is finished so for me Kieran Tierney from Celtic. They will have already sewn the league up so nothing to play for.

Left-sided centre-half, Gibson from Middlesboro, can also play left back. Another season down there so maybe they'd sell.

Two forwards... well now there's a problem. What club is going to sell their on-form strikers mid-season? Obviously there's a wish list but realistically who we could land, if anyone, is anyone's guess.

I think we'd have to make do with the rest but could we bin anyone? Williams? Schneiderlin? Klaassen? McCarthy?

Reader Comments (23)

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Denver Daniels 1Posted
28/10/2017 at
04:15:05

Send Davy back to Ajax in exchange for Ziyech. There must be some disgruntled striker out there we can take on loan trying to get some game time to get into a World Cup squad. Maybe Giroud. Bring some of the youngsters in.

Ajay Gopal 2Posted
28/10/2017 at
06:42:20

I think it is as important to trim the bloated squad as it is to make additions in key areas.

Central midfield is overstocked in my opinion. If Barkley decides to stay, then we have:

SigurdssonSchneiderlinGueyeBesicMcCarthyBarkleyDaviesKlaassenBeni (who has just announced his arrival)

We should cull at least 3 players from this lot, my choice would be:

SchneiderlinBesicKlaassen

And send Beni out on loan to a Championship side for from January until the end of season, so he irons out his game and come back ready to the PL next season along with Kieran Dowell.

I wouldn't recall Garbutt into the squad in January (let us keep our powder dry for a high-profile LB signing in the summer), and also recall Galloway back from his loan spell from Sunderland, maybe in exchange for Holgate. Also no need to panic buy another expensive CB, Browning and Pennington will come back from their loans in the summer.

I would sell Cuco Martina and Stekelenburg in January, they add very little value to the squad. I am torn over Sandro, I desperately hope he will come good, hopefully, Unsay can sort him out.

I would put all our resources into finding and buying a top, top striker. Next summer, he will be joined by Onyekuru, then things start to look a lot healthier.

I don't think we're going to have the money to sign a striker before the summer. It may be a case of making do with what we have. If we utilize the strikers we have, i.e play them, play them in the right position and actually give them service, we should do enough to wait until the summer.

At the back, any of Baines, Jagielka and Wiliams have added very little in a number of games. Unsworth will know enough about the younger and fringe players to be able to shake things up. Holgate has shown enough to be an option and Kenny may get more game time.

In midfield the problem isn't as bad as you would think. Yes, we are overstocked, but there are a number of decent players there, both centrally and out wide. Unsworth's lineup on Thursday had a lot more balance to it simply because he played a mix of central and wide players. That's all any manager will need to do. Keeping players happy with game time will be an issue but it always is.

The problem in January won't be recruiting players, it will be offloading players. We have been dreadful and players have also shown themselves to be very short of confidence.

Peter Warren 4Posted
28/10/2017 at
07:54:27

Shaw, Gibson, Immobile. Easy.

Phil Walling 5Posted
28/10/2017 at
09:07:04

The need to raise say, £30M for a striker will ensure every attempt is made to unload the surplus midfielders. Trouble is, it's doubtful on this season's performances whether the whole lot would fetch that sort of money in a January window so it will be loans for many of them.

I somehow doubt if there is a future here for many of the younger players already farmed out but, perhaps, an Unsy appointment may get some of them a second chance ?

I don't think you would get a decent centre-forward or left-back with the money they would raise, Colin.

Paul Ellam 8Posted
28/10/2017 at
20:20:21

Didn't we put a £60 odd million bid in for Costa at the end of August?That says to me we have cash burning a huge hole in our proverbial pocket!In January I would try to bring in somebody like Bas Dost, Cenk Tosun or Willian Jose to give us that target man we so badly need.Hopefully by then Coleman, Bolasie, Barkley and Funes Mori should be fit to help the team so we could probably manage til the summer when a left back and left centre back should be bought - plus another striker!

Sam Hoare 9Posted
28/10/2017 at
20:31:56

We'll have a much better idea of what these players can do over the next few weeks within an organised team and players playing in their right position for the most part.

Sadly I concur that Baines does not have the pace and energy any more to be modern full back in the PL. Unless Keane quickly picks up his game then we need at least one CB too if not more. Obviously we need a striker.

I just don't know what money we have. For the last few windows I got excited at the Moshiri novelty and idea that we would be throwing cash everywhere. Clearly that is not the case and net spend has been reasonably balanced so far.

Tony Hill 10Posted
28/10/2017 at
21:15:14

i agree with Ajay (#2) in that I would send Baningime on loan to a good Championship club. I doubt that many, if any, will agree but I think Klaassen is someone who will prove to be excellent for us in due course. I am a fan of Besic too but accept he is simply not in the frame often enough and he might be movable.

Otherwise, we just have to hope that the January market lets us buy some more firepower. How much we may have to spend in that quest, and who would wish to join us, depends on where we will be in the table, of course. I think Sandro deserves a proper chance in a team that is not dysfunctional.

Oh yes, and the biggest objective of all : keep Barkley.

Charlie Lloyd 11Posted
29/10/2017 at
01:07:47

Ajay @ 2

I can only assume by your recommendations that you do not watch the U23s or follow the players out on loan.

Steve Ferns 12Posted
29/10/2017 at
01:11:29

Yes Charlie, or he would realise Beni Baningime is a defensive midfielder in the Gueye mould and that Davies is a box-to-box midfielder.

It will be interesting to see just how much of the £60m to buy Costa was actually coming from the sale of Barkley. I actually heard it was a loan until January, when he would then go to Atletico.

Ron Marr 13Posted
29/10/2017 at
01:43:02

Too much for January but one can hope. Replace Dad's Army defenders. Unload Schneiderlin, Klaassen and also Sigurdsson if Barkley stays. Sign a centre-forward who can play on the ground.

Gavin Johnson 14Posted
29/10/2017 at
03:23:57

I'd offer Celtic £40m for Kieran Tierney and Moussa Dembele. I think we'll regret it if we sit back and let another premier league club sign Dembele, as he's surely gonna leave in Jan or next summer. When he does, it should be Everton who sign him.

There's more options at LB with Sessegnon from Fulham being the other player I'd like us to sign. Failing that I'd go for Luke Shaw who would probably be available for the right fee.

We possibly need another CB too, but a striker and LB are the obvious deficiencies in the current squad that need to be solved in January.

We need to lose two central midfielders in the current squad. My choices would be Mo Besic and James McCarthy. Both are far too injury prone and will never play consistently in this Everton team that has more competition for places and money to spend.

The other two are Cuco Martina, who I'd drive myself to Liverpool airport. Stekenbourg is the other player. Not a bad keeper and probably gave the best singular goalkeeper performance I've seen in an Everton jersey against City last season. Unfortunately he's a flapper and makes too many errors. Both of them are Koeman's men and can follow him to his next job as far as I'm concerned. Joel can give us decent cover until the end of the season.

Gavin Johnson 15Posted
29/10/2017 at
03:35:25

Thanks Colin. You just reminded me. Aaron Lennon can go too. We have Vlasic, Lookman, Mirallas and a fit again Bolasie as our wingers for the 2nd half of the season. So that's five players that can go for me - Stek, Martina, Besic, Lennon and McCarthy, with at least a striker and LB coming in.

Paul Ward 16Posted
29/10/2017 at
04:28:47

Agree with Ajay we do need to trim our bloated squad. Wheather or not we need to sell to buy, at least it would help to dispose of a few players who have little or no future at the club.

It would depend on offers but I would not be sorry to see Stekelenburg, Besic, Scheiderlin, Barkley and Mirallas go in January. There maybe a few more but I think some of our newer players need time to be judged fairly.

Sam Hoare 17Posted
29/10/2017 at
07:00:19

I wonder how much money you'd get for potential outgoings in January?

Martina- 3m?Besic - 5m?Stek- 1m?Lennon- 2m?McCarthy - 10m?

More a case of trimming the wages than raising a big transfer pot. Though if you were to add Barkley (30m?) and Klaassen(16m?) then you'd have a bit more though I'd rather keep them both.

Mark Murphy 18Posted
29/10/2017 at
07:52:45

I think your being a bit harsh on Shaw and Gibson there Peter!#4

Paul Ellam 19Posted
29/10/2017 at
08:23:51

It's okay saying sell this player or sell that player to trim the squad/wages but what you have to consider is that said player may not want to go!Example - Cuco Martina. I would love to move him on but will he want to go? Everton is as good as it gets for him. Nobody from the "top 6" clubs will want him so if he leaves us it's all down hill.Getting rid of unwanted players is almost as hard as signing wanted players!

Eddie Dunn 20Posted
29/10/2017 at
08:32:22

As for trimming a bloated squad in January, who in their right minds would pay good money on the likes of Besic or McCarthy who have had such problems with injuries?Also, after shelling out so much on Klaasson, it would be ridiculous to attempt to sell him at a loss. He needs time to adapt.Schneiderlin is a player who has seriously underwhelmed me, and I am convinced that , if it were not for his previous reputation he would have been dropped and wouldn't get near the first team.I hope he was playing to Koeman's strict orders and we may see a more expansive game from him once Unsworth selects him.For me , many of our problems have come from the lack of penetration down the flanks. An aging Baines, is now getting caught upfield and knows he lacks the pace of old, and over on the right, we relied so heavily on Coleman for his crosses and ability to cut inside, and his loss has both blunted our attack and caused all manner of makeshift arrangements on that side of the defence.Indeed, the case for Jags, Williams and Keane should consider that whoever has been in the middle pairing, they have had to pay more attention to the flanks due to the rookie/player on wrong side/player out of position.As Steve Fern states, we have also been shorn of the pace and height of Funes Mori, who's passing may make Williams look like Iniesta, but his other attributes have been missed.In conclusion, if we have to sell to buy in January, then don't expect much. It may well be better to keep a fit Barkley and see what he can add to the mix.if we need a stop-gap, what about Pelle (who left Southampton, and is now in China).

Ian Bennett 21Posted
29/10/2017 at
08:36:40

Outs for me:

Barkley if he still refuses a dealMcCarthy if he can't stay fitFunes Mori when he is fit, he's a liabilityBesicLennonKlaasenMartinaStekelenbergWilliamsRamirezGarbutt

InStrikerA left sided defender to startAnother up and coming centre backA left back

Anthony Hawkins 23Posted
29/10/2017 at
11:32:52

Whoever goes out we need to get in:

CB, LB and a Striker, at minimum.

Barry Pearce 24Posted
06/11/2017 at
17:28:32

I dont believe Galloway or browning, will make the grade, as they cant get into a struggling Sunderland side.

I dont believe they are injured. Or does anyone know different.

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